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Sports

Monday, December 8, 1997

Pecos girls take second at Crane tourney

You might say it was an up-and-down week for the Pecos
Eagles.

Three nights after seeing Hobbs hit the 114 mark against
them, the Eagles held Fort Stockton to 95 fewer points on
Friday at the West Texas Shootout in Crane, in cruising to
an easy 54-19 victory in the tournament semifinal game.

That came a day after Pecos lost their opening game to
Iraan, then bounced back to down Crane in the
unusually-bracketed tournament. which gave Pecos a second
chance at the tournament title. But on Saturday, the Eagles'
turnover problems returned against the Seminole Maidens, who
took the title with a 70-48 victory.

"We turned the ball over 38 times in the game and 20 times
in the second half. We didn't give ourselves a chance to be
competitive," Eagles' coach Brian Williams said. "We had a
lot of unforced turnovers, walking calls and
double-dribbles. Their press really didn't bother us."

Seminole, which downed Iraan 62-34 to reach the finals,
slowly added to their lead in each quarter Saturday,
outscoring Pecos by seven in both of the first two periods,
then by sixth in the third quarter to go up 55-35. Trisha
Ratliff led the Maidens with 22 points, while Lori Marquez
put in 12 and Penny Armstrong had 10 for the Eagles.

Things were different on Friday. "We played just about a
perfect game against Stockton," Williams said, as the Eagles
controlled play throughout against the Prowlers.

Williams said both Marquez girls were named to the
all-tournament team, while adding that a bad back hampered
Annette Marquez during Saturday's finals. "She couldn't move
as well as she did Friday," he said.

While the varsity played in Crane, the Eagles' freshmen and
junior varsity teams were hosting their own tournaments.
Pecos' JV dropped their Saturday morning game to Odessa
Permian's sophomores by a 47-41 final score, while the
freshmen lost in the consolation finals to Monahans, 42-19.
Andrews beat Crane, 49-25, for the ninth grade title, and
Odessa High took first in the JV division, 35-25 over
Monahans.

The next game for the varsity will be in Monahans, Thursday
morning against El Paso High in the first round of the
Sandhills Tournament.

Swimmers just miss twin titles at Odessa

A few more swimmers did wonders for the Pecos Eagles on
Saturday at the Odessa Invitational.

Absences and illness had left the Eagles shorthanded for the
first month of the 1997-98 season. But on Saturday, Pecos
had virtually its entire team available for the first time,
and wound up taking the first place team title on the boys
side and just missed doing the dame in the girls division,
two weeks after a disappointing showing in Monahans.

The boys used a victory in the 400 freestyle relay to clinch
the title, by a 239-229 margin over San Angelo Central.
District 4 rival Big Spring, which had beaten out Pecos at
the Monahans Invitational, was next with 172 points.

The girls missed out on their division title by one point,
as Central won by a 213-212 margin, with Amarillo High next
at 194 points.

"Overall, I think our performance was very good compared to
Monahans," said Eagles' coach Terri Morse. "Would I like to
see our times drop a little bit more? Sure I would, but
we're getting there. Right now, we're looking towards
district in January."

"Some of the kids who seemed a little bit tired before
Thanksgiving did a littler better as far as their times go,
and some did not," Morse said. "One who did real well in
particular was Al Tillman. He hadn't done a 1:02 in the 100
fly in the last three meets but did here (going 1:02.15 for
a third place finish)."

The Eagles even got a sixth place finish out of two of their
`B' relay teams, the boys' 200 medley squad of Timothy
Harrison, Craig Wein, Tye Edwards and Cortney Freeman, and
the girls 400 freestyle team.

Individually, Kenneth Friar claimed two gold medals and
Kevin Bates had one, and the two were part of the Eagles'
winning 200 medley and 400 freestyle relay teams.

Friar easily won the 200 freestyle relay with a 2:12.54
time, then also claimed the 500 yard freestyle with a time
of 5:28.48. Just prior to that, Bates won the 100 yard
freestyle with a 52.34 time, and later placed second in the
100 backstroke. Tillman had the Eagles' other individual
medals, claiming second in the 100 breaststroke and along
with his third in the 100 fly.

Friar, Bates, Tillman and Matt Ivy were members of the 200
medley relay team that won with a time of 1:48.53, six
seconds ahead of Fort Stockton, while the Friar, Bates,
Tillman and Grant Holland also won the 400 free relay by a
six second margin, going 3:38.39 to beat out Odessa High.

Ivy also took fifth in the 200 freestyle relay and was
eighth in the 100 butterfly; while Holland was fifth in the
100 breaststroke and seventh in the 100 free. Among other
swimmers, Harrison was ninth in the 200 medley and 500 free;
Edwards was eighth in the 100 backstroke and 10th in the 100
fly; Freeman was 13th in the 50 free and 16th in the 100
free; Wein was 19th in the 100 breaststroke and 25th in the
50 free; Luis Nieto was 34th in the 50 free; and Michael
Pena was 30th in the 100 free and 37th in the 50 free.

In Friday's one-meter diving competition, Scott Pounds was
Pecos' lone entry, and placed eighth, while the other `B'
relay team of Harrison, Nieto, Pena and Wein, was 11th in
the 400 freestyle.

As they've done all season, the girls got their big point
total without benefit of a first place finish. Individually,
Liz Parent had a second place finish in the 500 freestyle
and was third in the 200 free, Dionnie Munoz was third in
the 100 freestyle and sixth in the 50 free; Megan Freeman
placed third in the 100 fly and fifth in the 50 free; while
Randi Key was third in the 100 backstroke and sixth in the
100 butterfly.

In the relays, Parent, Freeman, Sarah Flores and Munoz were
second in the 200 freestyle relay, while Parent, Freeman,
Key and Munoz placed third in the 400 free relay, and the
`B' team of Jennifer Martinez, Kellee Bagley, Briar Prewit
and Jamie Corson got sixth. Corson, Flores, Key and Martinez
were also sixth in the 200 medley relay.

In other races, Corson was fourth in the 500 free and
seventh in the 200 medley; Flores was sixth in the 100
backstroke and eighth in the 200 medley; Prewit was 13th in
the 200 freestyle and 100 fly; Martinez was 10th in the 50
free and 11th in the 100 free; Bagley was 17th in the 100
free and 18th in the 50 free; Joann Wein was 13th in the 100
backstroke and 14th in the 100 fly; Charlee Waight was 43rd
in the 100 free and Megan Joplin was 20th in the 100
breaststroke 53rd in the 50 free.

Morse did say that some of the top Midland and San Angelo
swimmers were in Dallas for a meet, which cut down on the 5A
schools' point totals. But outside of one swimmer, she added
that Big Spring, the Eagles' main district rival, had its
top swimmers at the meet.

"We'll get one more chance to cut our times before
Christmas, when we go to Seminole this week," Morse said.
Pecos then takes a four-week break, and resume with the
Coker Invitational at Fort Stockton on Jan. 10.

Eagles learn lessons during Odessa losses

By JON FULBRIGHT
Sports Editor

React faster, pass quicker, rebound stronger and shoot
better.

Those were some of the lessons a pair of Class 5A teams and
a potential Class 4A bi-district rival taught the Pecos
Eagles on Friday, at the Ector County Hoopfest Tournament.

El Paso Irvin, El Paso Ysleta and Odessa Permian were the
instructors. The Indians and Panthers took out the Eagles in
the pool round games, Irvin by a 78-54 score and Permian by
a 92-50 margin. The results were closer on Saturday, but the
Eagles allowed El Paso Ysleta to pull away at the end for a
61-52 victory in the tournament's fifth place game.

The opener against Irvin was close until the final period,
though Irvin jumped out to a 34-19 halftime lead. "We got
behind by 12 early, and then caught up when Jacob hit a
couple of 3s," said Eagles' coach Mike Sadler, we got with
about three points (at 44-41) and then just stopped."

The Eagles put in 22 points in the third period, but the
Rockets then broke away late in the quarter, and outscored
the Eagles 29-13 in the final period. Gabe Maldonado led all
scorers for Irvin with 24, while David Solis had 15. Chavez'
four 3-pointers helped him to a team-high 19 points, and
Omar Hinojos added 13.

Hinojos was most of the offense for the Eagles against
Permian, which used its press to go on a 27-2 run midway
through the opening period. Too many times, the Eagles threw
soft lob passes trying to break the press which were
intercepted by Permian's defenders, while after a good
start, the Eagles stopped blocking out inside, allowing the
quicker Panthers to score often on second or third
opportunities.

"They're a 5A team that lifts weights every day and goes
through an offseason program that makes you more aggressive,
faster and stronger," said Sadler. "We're working towards
district, and hopefully this will be good to help get out
mistakes corrected. We got to see three good pressing teams,
and we know we've got to make more crisp passes."

Hinojos had a 3-point play that gave Pecos a brief lead at
the outset, and finished with 20 points, while Chavez had
four more 3s and wound up with 13, though he struggled more
from the outside against Permian's tight defense. The
Panthers substituted freely and had four players in double
figures, led by forwards Henry Burk and Duane Chapman, with
12 apiece.

Saturday's game against Ysleta was more like Friday's
against Irvin. The Eagles could manage only eight points in
the second half, turning a 14-all tie into a 33-22 Indians
lead. Pecos then cut that margin to four in the third
period, holding Ysleta to just six points, before their
Class 4A rivals opened things up in the final minutes.

"We didn't shoot very well at all, but we played good
defense," Eagles' coach Mike Sadler said of the lost to the
Indians. "We passed a little bit better, but it's still not
up to where we want it. We are figuring out if you pass it,
you've got a better chance getting it upcourt than dribbling
the ball."

Hinojos again had 20 points and Chavez again put in 13 for
the Eagles, while Ysleta was led by Moy Lopez with 15 points.

Hinojos earned all-tournament honors for his back-to-back
efforts, which included 12-for-15 foul shooting against
Ysleta, though Sadler said "He had a couple of chances to
make 3-point plays, but missed the lay-ups. We've got to
finish stronger inside."

The Eagles are at home all this week, hosting Monahans on
Tuesday night, then taking part in the annual West of the
Pecos Shootout on Thursday through Saturday.

Balmorhea boys claim Sanderson title

The Balmorhea Bears kept their boys' basketball record
perfect over the weekend and captured their first tournament
title of the year with a trio of wins at the Sanderson
Tournament.

The Bears opened with a 63-49 victory over district rival
Marathon, then had an easier time on Saturday, downing Wink,
75-53 in the semifinals and Comstock, 60-37 in the title
game.

Things didn't go as well for Balmorhea's girls, as they
dropped their two weekend games in the tournament, losing on
Thursday to Marathon and then on Saturday to Wink in the
consolation semifinals.

The girls fell to 2-3 with their losses, a close 45-41
decision against Marathon, followed by a 64-22 loss to Wink.

"It was close all the way," coach Ennis Erickson said of the
girls' game with Marathon. "One team would get ahead and
then the other team would.

"They just hit their shots at the end, and we didn't," he
said, while in the loss to Wink, "We just didn't play good.
We played like we were asleep."

Cherry Garcia had 17 in the Bears' loss to the Mustangs,
while she and Nelda Mondgraon both put in six in their loss
Saturday to the Wildcats.

The boys. meanwhile, improved to 5-0 with their victories,
as Kevin Castillo led the Bears in scoring all thee times.
The senior was named tournament MVP after putting in 17
against Marathon, and 23 against both Wink and Comstock.
Seniors Debiasie Mendoza and Zane Rhyne were also named to
the all-tournament team

"Against Wink it was pretty close at first, then in the
second quarter we got a lead and stretched it out and never
looked back. Saturday night was pretty much the same, we got
a lead in the second quarter, but the Wink game overall was
closer," Erickson said.

The Bears will be on the road this week, going to Presidio
to face the Blue Devils at 5 and 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, then
competing in the Buena Vista Tournament this weekend.
Erickson said the boys will open with a 5 p.m. game Thursday
against the Jal Panthers and the girls will face the host
Longhorns at 6:30 p.m.